Birds of a Feather
by SatireSwift
Summary: All Uzume wanted was to be with Chiho. If that meant doing Higa's dirty work, then she was fine with that. No one else who had to make such a choice would understand. An so, the Cloth Sekirei was alone. That is, until a certain red headed young man walked into her life. This was originality an omake for In Flight by Gabriel Blessing.
1. Chapter 1

*Begin Meta*

The S.S. Uzume sailed across the metaphorical waters of the forums, it being the first ship of the new created Satire Swift Fleet to brave this sea. The grizzled sea captain (because it's impossible to find one of the non-grizzled variety) stared off the bow of the ship, towards the choppy waters of their destination. The Shipping Sea.

The first mate always found this practice of his superior odd, mostly because his right eye was covered with an eye patch, and his left was made of glass. Honestly, he wasn't sure how the captain made it around the ship in the first place. It was probably some secret know to all grizzled sea captains.

"Do you see it, lad?" the captain asked. "There lies our first true battle."

Resisting the urge to ask if the captain could see anything, the first mate instead asked "Captain, exactly why are we doing this? Satire Swift's main export is hilarity, along with some drama on the side when he's in the mood. Why did he feel the need to make a Shipping omake?"

The captain whirled on his first mate with a grimace on his face. "Damn it boy, haven't you been paying attention? The world is clamoring for a good Shirou/Uzume omake, and after the incredibly depressing (if well written) one, Satire decide it was up to him."

"But Gabriel Blessing already made a happy one. It was pretty good, too."

The captain dismissively waved his hand. "Bah, Satire had already promised he would do so. And Satire Swift always delivers!"

"What about that time he failed to deliver for the Badass category of the Olympiads?"

"Doesn't count! Nobody delivered anything for that!" The captain shouted angrily. He calmed down a bit before continuing. "Anyway, you shouldn't worry about it. This will be one little omake and then he's back to his usual thing of coming up with clever little ideas and then trying desperately to figure out how to make them into a narrative."

The first mate looked off to the side nervously. "Actually, there's going to be a few installments."

"What? I thought this was supposed to be a one-shot!"

"He did too, sir. Unfortunately, he remembered that the reason he doesn't like most shipping fics is that they fail to setup any meaningful interaction, history, or chemistry between the characters, instead just throwing them together because the author has already justified it in their mind. As such, he feels compelled to do the necessary setup to make the pairing work."

The captain gave him a flat look. "He is aware that this is just an omake and most people won't care in the slightest, isn't he?"

"He is, sir. However, he can't help himself."

The captain growled in frustration. "Damn it man! People don't want to waste time with that! They want to vicariously live through this boy for whatever girl they have a thing for (possible several at once) and they want to do it now!"

The first mate gave a frown of his own. "That's a dangerous path, sir. In fact, I think that's how the Emiya Clan came into existence."

The captain paused for a moment before sagging his shoulders. "Aye, maybe your right." He looked back out to the meta-fictional water. "Well, no time to worry about it now. We're almost at the Zone of Engagement. Get ready for battle, and raise the mizenmast!"

The first mate face palmed. "Sir, I keep telling you, the metaphor for this vessel is a twentieth century warship. We don't have a mizenmast, and furthermore, raising it is not something you do when you're about to go into battle."

The captain glared at the first mate (an impressive feat considering that he had no functioning eyes) and said "Then build a mizenmast, raise it, and find some way to make it useful in battle!"

The first mate was about to respond before thinking better of it, choosing to walk away and trying to figure out how to follow his captain's inane command.

The captain smiled to himself, and turned back to the sea. "Now then," he said to himself and the ship crossed that line between written and unwritten. "Battle stations!"

*End Meta*

* * *

Uzume gave a brief sigh as she stepped over the threshold of the Izumo House before she announced "I'm back!" She had just gotten back from seeing Chiho is the hospital and would normally be in a good mood, but unfortunately things had just become rather complicated for the cloth Sekirei. The man who runs the hospital and in effect controls Chiho's treatment had recently become an Ashikabi himself, and had somehow learned of her relationship with the girl. That in itself would be bad enough, but the man (named Higa Izumi) had causally remarked to Uzume that his company was the only one that could treat Chiho and it would be a shame if he found himself unable to kept giving the young woman her treatment. After much useless threatening and yelling, he made it clear that he expected Uzume's services in the future.

Uzume bit her lip as she walked further into the house, wracking her brain trying to think of a way out of this. She briefly considered asking Mastsu, as the perverted hacker did owe her a favor for helping her sneak away from MBI recently, but she quickly discarded the idea. Once the Sekirei Plan got completely underway, there was no grantee that Matsu wouldn't use her knowledge of Chiho against her, especially if her Ashikabi ordered her to do so. Miya was also out, given that the No. 1 had adopted a strict neutrality policy in regards to all things MBI.

_I guess that just leaves me,_ Uzume thought to herself. Even if her list of friends was short, she had come to the conclusion that she couldn't rely on anyone else in the matter. Her fist clenched by her side resolutely. _It doesn't matter what happens to me. I will do anything to keep Chiho safe, even if that means dealing with the devil__._

The cloth Sekirei was snapped out of her musings when Miya approached her. "Ara, you're just in time for diner. I was beginning to worry that you'd be too lazy to show up on time." The innkeeper prodded with her usually crinkled eyes expression.

"Aw, don't be like that Miya," Uzume said before sniffing the air. "What'ca making? Cause it smells great!" She then blinked in surprise when she noticed that the landlady wasn't wearing her customary apron which she used for cooking, nor had she come from the kitchen where the delectable smell was coming from. "Wait, if you're already done, then why…"

Miya simply tilted her head to the side. "Ah, a new tenant arrived while you were out, and he was most adamant on being able to prepare dinner tonight."

"Whoa, my new housemate happens to be a chief?" Uzume asked. And a damn good one at that if the smell was anything to go by.

"Actually, I'm thinking of getting a job as a repairman." The new voice belonged to a tall, red headed young man, emerging from the kitchen with an apron on his front and plate of food in each hand. "Cooking is just something I like to do." The man proceeded to give Uzume a short bow. "My name is Shirou Emiya. Pleasure to meet you."

* * *

"Minato, why is it that she gets to sit next to you and I don't? As the legal wife-"

"Musubi is legal wife too!"

Uzume chucked to herself as she saw the familiar chaotic scene play out before her once again. Things sure had gotten lively at the inn ever since Minato and Musubi showed up. While the cloth Sekirei thought he was kinda wimpy, he somehow managed to wing a whole bunch of Sekirei in the few short weeks he had been here, including Matsu. Unfortunately for him, his aforementioned wimpyness caused him to be pretty much useless at reining his flock's shenanigans. Fortunately for Uzume, his flock's shenanigans were hilarious.

Still, she couldn't help but feel the smallest pang of loneliness as she watched the rest of her housemates interact. Uzume always made sure to keep herself at a distance from the rest of them, not only because she may have to fight them one day, but also she felt they would never understand the things she had done to keep Chiho safe. She certainly wasn't proud of the things Higa made her do, but so long it allowed her Ashikabi to live, Uzume was willing carry whatever burden necessary. And so, the cloth Sekirei held herself back, never really getting close to any of her housemates.

Well, almost.

"Enjoying the meal?" Shirou asked as he sat down next to her.

"Umm!" She replied happily as she chewed the deliciously prepared fish in her mouth. "I've gotta say bro, your cooking is something else." She pointed to Minato, who was current trying to calm down Tsukiumi. "And with him around, I get dinner and a show!"

Shirou frowned at her delighted expression. "It's not very nice to make fun of him for this. It must be very hard for Minato to adjust to his new circumstances."

She gave the red head a knowing wink. "Speaking from experience, bro?"

Uzume giggled as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. She wasn't quite sure why, but she had taken to spending a lot more time with Shriou than anyone else in the household. It had started when he had come to her for help repairing some of his cloths that had gotten damaged while on the job as a repairman. He had heard from Homura that she was a talented seamstress, and so went to her to ask her to patch some things up. She was a little surprised at first, but when he promised to make her some dango in return, she quickly agreed as Shriou's treats were to die for. From there, the two of them just started talking, and found they enjoyed each other's company (even if Uzume liked to tease him for being so domestic).

Oddly enough, they had plenty of chances to interact as well considering how often he came to her with torn or singed clothing. Honestly, if she didn't know that Shirou wasn't the type of guy to do something so pathetic, she would have suspected that he was doing it himself just to talk to her. Of course, the real answer was that he was probably just really clumsy when working with sharp and electrical appliances. He had come back from his workshop more than once with a comically blackened face due to an explosion.

Nevertheless, she still would talk to him even if he wasn't accident prone. Uzume felt that he was the one person she didn't have to worry about being friends with. Shirou wasn't an Ashikabi (Though he still knew about the Sekirei Plan, partly because it's the worst kept secret inside Shin Tokyo, partly because Mubusi was terrible at keeping her mouth shut), so she didn't have to worry about needing to fight him later. Also, he tended to keep his distance from the rest of the household like her, which gave her an odd sort of feeling of kinship was the red head. Granted, it was somewhat strange to find common ground in being self imposed outsiders, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was a reason for it. She sometime managed to catch a glimpse of him when he though no one was looking, a melancholic look crossing his face as he stared at nothing. She never asked about it, just like he never asked her why she kept herself apart from the rest, but just being there was enough.

She was snapped out of her musings by an unfortunately familiar phrase. "Ara ara. It seems I must remind you all that violence is forbidden in the Izumo House." With the landlady's words, that terrible, terrible mask appeared over her shoulder, surrounded by darkness that Uzume swore was materialized out of pure malice. Uzume shuddered at the sight along with the rest of the household.

Well, all except Shriou anyway, who had quickly taken out a notepad and started rapidly jotting down notes while muttering "Yes, kept going, just like that…" Uzume shook her head at his unsettling interest in Miya's technique. After all, who in their right mind sees something like… THAT and thinks he wants to learn how to do it.

After the horrifying vision faded, Miya said with an amused smile "Ah, Minato-kun, your girls are just so lively! Perhaps you should ask Emiya-kun for advice as he had dealt with this kind of thing."

"Miya-san," Shriou said with an embarrassed look. "I'm not that experienced…" he said with a grumble, to both Miya and Uzume's delight. When the red head had accidently brought up that he used to have two girlfriends before moving to the city, Uzume figured she had hit teasing gold considering how shy he could be about intimate things. However, it had quickly become clear that the subject of his two former girlfriends was not something he wanted to talk about. Ever. Uzume figured that things must have ended pretty badly between them, so she never pressed the issue. Still didn't stop her from getting the occasional jab in every now and then.

"Could you also teach Minato-san how to cook?" Musubi asked with stars in her eyes. The rather excitable girl had taken a real shine to Shirou's cooking.

"He can learn about cooking later," Tsukiumi declared. "Right now, we need to prepare for the Sekirei Plan!"

"Awww…" the girl in the shrine maiden outfit moaned, her dreams of delicious food left unfulfilled.

"She's right, Musubi-tan," Matsu said. "We need to start preparing for conflict. There are a number of mysterious characters in the Sekirei Plan that we need to look out for. For example, there's one called the Veiled Sekirei."

Uzume's body tensed ever so slightly at the mention of her alias, but no one seemed to notice, and Matsu continued. "From the information I've gathered, this underhanded Sekirei attacks without giving her name and number, keeps her face concealed, and is responsible for some of the more high level terminations. Also, she leaves as soon as she has beaten her opponent, not waiting for MBI to arrive."

"Hmm, how shameless." The water Sekirei declared. "How dare she sully the honor of the Sekirei Plan!"

Uzume looked down at her lap, trying to not let her frustration show with proud woman. She had half mind to tell the tsundere just where she could shove her previous Sekirei Plan. Uzume didn't give a damn about any of it so long as Chiho was safe. She didn't expect anyone to understand.

Which is why she was a little surprised when Shirou said "Maybe she thinks that winning the plan is more important than doing so fairly."

"What?" Tsukiumi replied indignantly. "Winning by such underhanded means would make the victory worthless! What's more important than battling with honor?"

"The chance to stay with her loved one." He replied quietly.

The whole table was silent for a moment while the table thought about what he said. Uzume looked at the young man in surprise, and felt the bond with him grow just a little bit more.

"W-well, it's still dishonorable." Tsukiumi finally said. "A Sekirei should announce her name and number before combat. Any that don't cannot have honorable intentions!"

"Well, I'm not sure about that…" Mastu said somewhat sheepishly. "The Veiled Sekirei isn't the only mysterious unknown in the game. There's also the Kensei Sekirei."

Homura frowned at this. "A sword saint? What does she do, go around and defend the weak?" He asked with some skepticism.

"'He', actually. And yes, he does." Mastsu responded to everyone's surprise. "The Kensei Sekirei has often been seen defending Ashikabi and Sekirei who don't want to be part of the plan from those that see them as easy prey. No one knows who he is because he disappears as quickly as he arrives and keeps completely covered. In any case, he has caused no terminations that I'm aware of, instead just driving the offending party of or letting the others escape."

"Why is he called the Kensei Sekirei?" Miya Asked with some interest.

"All information indicates that he is an extremely proficient sword user, frequently seen using a two sword style. Not only that, there are rumors that he can create blades out of nothing."

Homura gave the hacker flat look. "Sounds pretty farfetched to me."

Matsu shrugged. "Like I said, there's not much known about him. For all we know, he could be friendly."

Tsukiumi gave a snort. "It doesn't matter. Whatever his intentions, I shall defeat him!"

Uzume saw Minato give a sigh at this. "Tsukiumi-san…" he said pathetically. He turned to Shirou. "Ano, I don't suppose Miya-san was serious when she said you could help me with…" he trailed off.

Shirou, who had been silent for a while now, gave a groan of his own. "Ok, fine, I tell you what I can, but I really don't feel like an expert on this." His gaze turned to Musubi, who was looking at him with big hopeful eyes and her fists curled underneath her chin. Shirou sighed again. "And yes, I'll teach him how to cook, too."

"Yay! Thank you, Shriou-san!" Musbui cried out, and proceeded to jump at the red head in an effort to thank him. Unfortunately for him, Musubi's breasts had a scientifically unexplained attraction to young men's heads, so he only had a moment to blush in embarrassed panic before he soon found himself desperately lacking oxygen.

Uzume stared down at the now squirming Shriou, as small smile on her face as the chaos stared once again. All thing considered, he could be kinda boring, but he always surprised her when she least expected it. She should probably help him up before he suffocates.

Well, in a minute, anyway. This was pretty damn funny after all.


	2. Chapter 2

*Begin Meta*

The captain stared at the numerous dials and equipment on the bridge with a deep sense of mistrust. He had never cared for all this new-fangled technology when it came to ships. It always made him feel like the ship knew more than him, and the captain should be the most informed person on the ship, not the ship itself! Turning to his first mate, he continued his prerogative to stay informed by asking "First mate! How fairs the battle?"

"Well sir, the thing about the battle it that… well, there isn't one."

"What? Explain!"

The first mate sighed. "Well sir, the whole concept of a Shipping War revolves around the idea that people with different opinions about who characters should be romantically involved with are constantly arguing with each other over who's right. However, the last omake was met with pretty much unanimous approval, so there's no one to fight with."

"How the devil is that possible?" The captain exclaimed, angry that he wasn't getting the chance to be all captainy during a battle.

"It's likely that the nature of Shirou as a harem hero keeps people from getting angry about seeing a pairing they disapprove of. To them, the character is capable of seducing and being with any damn woman throughout the entirety of fiction. The harem must be fed, after all."

"Damn it! Don't these people know what Shipping is all about?"

"… the joy and amusement of seeing various characters find happiness in one another, sir?"

"No! It's about finding a completely pointless and stupid reason to bitch with other people on the internet about why your opinion is more valid than everyone else's!"

The first mate face palmed. "Aren't there enough things to bitch about on the internet?"

"Of course not, Damn it! This is exactly why you'll never make captain!" The grizzled sea dog was cut short by a sudden crash followed by a large explosion at the back of the ship. "Aha! We are under attack! Turn us around and engage the enemy! "

"Actually sir, I'm pretty sure that was the shoddy, makeshift mizenmast falling over. It turns out that it was pretty unstable, what with it being made out of rotting driftwood and all."

"Then what was that explosion?"

"That would probably be the missiles you insisted we put up in the crow's nest in spite of the fact that there was no delivery system."

The captain gave a contemplative hum as he stroked his beard. "This is truly unfortunate. No one could have predicted this disaster."

"I told you this would happen several times, sir."

Undeterred by simple logic, the captain continued. "However, if we overcome this adversity, it will make our victory in this battle all the sweeter!"

"We're still not in battle, sir."

"Then forward! To battle! And Victory!"

The first mate once again face palmed, adding to the ever growing red mark on his forehead, before heading to the back of the ship to put out the fire before the captain's idiocy could bring the S.S. Uzume down in flames.

*End Meta*

* * *

Uzume ducked and weaved around the alleyway as best she could, but her attacker was relentless. Tonight was just supposed to be another night of terminating another Sekirei that Higa had found to be a problem. The heir had given Uzume her target a few hours earlier, and she had been stalking the Sekirei/Ashikabi pair for a while until she found the right time to strike. When they had turned down an alleyway to take a shortcut, the cloth Sekirei knew that this would be her best chance. The target was a pole arm user, so the alley would restrict her moments. Really, the whole thing should have been a fairly simple affair.

Unfortunately, Uzume was now realizing that she probably should have figured that her actions would eventually cause her to run into _him_.

She bit back a curse as her arm was nearly cut off by the black Chinese saber after its white twin had blocked her attack. It seemed like no matter what she did she could never land a hit on the male Sekirei, even though he was a little bit slower and appeared to be full of openings. He just seemed to be able to know where she was going to attack before she made her move. As the fight dragged on, it became clear to Uzume that the title of 'Kensei' was not given to him lightly.

Also in accordance with the brief description she heard of him, the Kensei Sekrei was completely covered, wearing gloves and a dark grey hooded sweat shirt with a face mask, so the small part of his face that wasn't covered was hidden in shadow. The only thing she really could tell about him was that he was fairly tall and long of limb. Well, and the fact that he was incredibly good with those swords of his.

Uzume was getting frustrated with the sword wielding Sekirei, especially since he had managed to keep her occupied while her target ran away. She had hoped to take him down as a sort of compensation so Higa wouldn't be completely pissed at her, but if things kept going the way they were, she doubted she would be able to make it back to her blackmailer in one piece at all. With a large sweeping motion, Uzume sent out a wide swath of cloth as if to entrap the Kensei Sekirei, and used the moment of broken line of sight to jump to the rooftops. When she landed, she turned around and glanced down to see how he faired against her last attack and was surprised by what she saw. It wasn't the fact that he had cut through her cloth (she was expecting that), but the fact that he was looking straight at her.

_What? I'm sure I covered my escape, how did he know where I went so fast?_ Whatever the case, he made no motion to follow, merely looking up at her for a few moments before dashing out of the alley and off into the night.

Uzume stared after him for a while, trying to make sense of the Sekirei's behavior. _Why didn't he come after me? And for that matter, why is he going around saving other Sekirei?_ It wasn't just that he was helping other Sekirei, he was actually going out of his way to do so. She could definitely understand not wanting to be a part of the Sekirei Plan, but to act directly counter to it? That would bring down a lot of heat from MBI, probably even more than her own shady work ironically enough.

Uzume gave a sigh, not knowing why the man did what he did, but knowing that he just caused her a whole mess of trouble. She turned and began jumping across the rooftops back to Higa, knowing that for Chiho's sake, she would someday have to fight her opposite again.

* * *

Uzume softly groaned to herself as she awoke to a pounding head, She kept her eyes shut to keep the early morning light from making the headache worse while trying to remember what happened last night. She remembered hunting down another Sekirei, but then getting interrupted by Tsukiumi and Musubi. Then Kazehana-nee-san showed up and they both escaped. After that, there was some talking followed by a lot of drinking and the rest just became a blur. In any case, the cloth Sekirei decided that all that could wait till later, and for the moment continued to nuzzle the warm, soft thing she had latched onto in her sleep. It felt somewhat familiar, yet was different enough that she couldn't quite place it. She briefly wondered if she had latched onto Kazehana, but she quickly discarded the idea as nee-san would be much softer and curvier than whatever she was holding. It was soft, but there was also an underlying firmness to it, kinda like really built muscle-

Uzume's eyes shot open at the sudden realization, and sure enough found herself cuddling next to a rather familiar looking red headed young man. A slight stirring on the other side of his body showed that Kazehana had also ended up in Shirou's bed. Not only that, she was wearing a rather skimpy set of panties… and that was it. Glancing down at herself, Uzume found herself to be in a similar state of undress. Looks like the two of them were so drunk they missed Uzume's room completely and just threw themselves down next to Shirou after stripping off most of their clothes. In spite of the pain she felt in her head, the cloth Sekirei smirked to herself as she imaged Shirou's reaction to finding himself in bed with two voluptuous young women. He had always been rather shy when it came to anything intimate, so Uzume was betting that there was half a chance the poor man would pass out just after he woke up. With a mischievous look on her face, she gently poked Shirou in the side to awaken him.

Much to Uzume's surprise, rather than waking up the red head unconsciously wrapped one of his arms around her, muttering "Sorry, Saber. Rin'll take care of breakfast…"

Uzume stiffened a bit, both at the increased contact and the unexpected response. Rin and Saber… those were the names of his former girlfriends, right? With that in mind, she guessed that he would probably be used to the sensation of two soft bodies sleeping next to him. She was about to try poking him a bit harder when she noticed his face. It was very peaceful looking, but there was something else, like he was… content. Staring at his expression, Uzume though about how melancholy Shirou became whenever the subject of his two former lovers came up. She guessed that things ended pretty badly, but it seemed whatever had actually happened between the three of them, he still cared about them on some level.

After a few more moments, Uzume relaxed her body and wrapped her arm around his in kind. She wasn't quite sure why she was doing it; while she wasn't certain on just how to categorize her relationship with the red head, she knew the current level of intimacy was probably a ways beyond it, not to mention her love for Chiho. It was just that… she couldn't stand wake him up. She didn't want to take away this small measure of peace for him, even if it would be lost when he woke up on his own. So, for a little while longer, she was willing to let him be.

Cuddling next to the young man, she was somewhat surprised how much muscle he had on him. Shirou always seemed to favor loose, long sleeve shirts, so this was the first time she really examined his body. Really, this was the first time she examined any male body for that matter. Uzume reflected that this was probably the first time she has even been this physically close to a man at all, mostly due to her preference for women and the fact that most Sekirei were female. Furthermore, she was also surprised at the fact that while the sensation of being pressed against a man was different than the one of being pressed against a woman, it was not at all unpleasant. Chiho was soft and squishy, like something you wanted to embrace and care for. Shirou on the other hand was more firm, but more like something you'd hold onto for comfort rather than something unpleasant. These comparisons floated through Uzume's mind for a while, wondering what it would be like to feel both pressed against her at the same time, Chiho nuzzling her neck from behind while the Ashikabi's hands explored her form, all the while her own hands moving over the hard surfaces of Shirou's body, drifting down towards his-

Uzume blinked in shock and felt her suddenly heat up. Where the hell did that come from?

She didn't have long to think about it however, as only a moment later Shirou suddenly stiffened and then sat bolt upright, giving off a somewhat girly scream as his did so. Looks like he finally woke up and noticed the situation. Uzume sat up with him and tried to say something to calm him down. Unfortunately, given what her most recent thoughts were about, what she actually said was "I wasn't thinking about grabbing your firm ass!"

There was a solid 30 seconds where the two of them did nothing by stare at each other with a combination of shock an embarrassment. _Oh god_, Uzume thought. _Why did I say that? __Of all the possible things, why did I say that? Granted it is probably pretty firm but- god damn it stop thinking about Shirou's butt!_

Shirou (whose own face was rather red at this point) finally managed to restart his brain and connect it to his mouth. "Uzume… what… why are… who is… where are you clothes?" Granted, his brain wasn't working at full capacity, but it was a start.

It was then Kazehana-nee-san managed to rouse herself from her alcohol induced sleep and sit up herself. "Nee, what's all the yelling for?" She said groggily before finally noticing the young man next her. "Oh, I don't remember inviting anyone to bed with us." The wind Sekirei leaned forward, pressing her front against his back so she could get a good look at him. "Hmm, not normally my type, but you're pretty cute nonetheless." She said with a flirtatious wink.

Shirou's blush became an even deeper shade of red, no doubt in response to the feeling of nee-san rather impressive assets being pressed into his back. His mouth opened and closed for awhile as his eyes darted around the room, trying desperately to look at anything other than the mostly nude forms of the two Sekirei. Uzume was afraid that they might have accidently broken the poor man.

However, the wind Sekirei's interest in Shriou was short lived, as a few moments later Minato's voice could be heard outside the door. "Shriou-san, are you alright? I heard yelling and-" That was as far as he got before he opened the door and saw the repairman with the two topless beauties, causing him to choke on his words as he gripped his nose to keep blood from coming out. He quickly stepped back out into the hall, stuttering an apology as he did so. "I-I'm sorry Emiya-san! I didn't kn-know that you had some c-company! I mean, I guess I should have seeing as you have all this ex-experience with multiple women… Wait! What I meant was-" he babble like this for a while until Kazahana curiously got up and walked out to him, the wimpy man suddenly calming up when he saw her form again.

Uzume couldn't see her nee-san any more, but she could hear her softly say "You look just like him…" She was somewhat confused by this, but decided that she should deal with the man in front of her first.

Shriou had managed to regain his composure somewhat, his face resting it one of his hands. "Uzume… could you please explain what's going on?"

Ignoring the noises coming from the hallway that indicated the rest of Minato's flock had found Kazehana with their Ashikabi, Uzume rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Heh, sorry bro. Me and Kazehana-nee-san went out for drinks last night, and we got pretty drunk. I guess I didn't know which room we stumbled into…"

"And the part about my firm ass?" He remarked, still keeping his face covered with his hand.

"Uhh…" Uzume said nervously, tying to come up with a less embarrassing explanation than the truth, but failing to find one. "I… don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm pretty sure you do."

"Let's… talk about something else."

Shirou gave a sigh and removed the hand from his face, only to quickly put it back again. "Maybe you could put on some clothes first."

Uzume looked down at herself. She had almost forgotten that she was practically naked. She gave a small laugh as she reach for her discarded clothing. "Aw, what's wrong bro? Most guys would be thrilled to see me and nee-san dressed like this."

"Well, I'm not most guys." He replied sternly.

_Isn't that the truth_, she thought to herself as she pulled her shirt over her chest. In the hall, she could hear Miya saying "Lewdness is forbidden in the Izumo House." And the tell-tale screams of terror from the rest of the occupants. After shrugging on her pants, she said "Ok, I'm decent."

Shirou removed his hand and gave the cloth Sekirei a look before getting to his feet. "I should probably go make breakfast. We can talk about this later." He then noticed the sound of Miya's lecture. "Right after I study Miya's technique some more."

"Shirou, wait!" Uzume called out, stopping him from reaching the door. Suddenly much less sure of herself, she continued to say "I, well, I just want to say… sorry."

He waved his had dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You were-"

"No, not about that." She said looking off to the side. "I just want to say… I'm sorry about what happened between you, Rin, and Saber." Shirou stiffened at the sudden topic, but she pressed on regardless. "I mean, I don't really know what happened, but it must have been bad for you, and I really shouldn't tease you about it, so… I'm sorry."

Uzume cursed herself as she looked at the ground. Why would she bring that up out of nowhere? If it truly was as painful as she implied, Shirou would hardly like it being brought up. Hell, she still could be misreading the whole situation…

"Thank you." She almost missed Shirou's soft reply. Looking up, she saw he was looking at her with small smile on his face. She was so surprised she stood there for a long while after he left.


	3. Chapter 3

*Begin Meta*

The first mate eventually found his captain on bow of the ship. It seemed that in lack for a real battle he had taken to yelling insults at the '_Aquais Leporidae Plotus_', an aquatic breed of plot bunny that were native to the Shipping Sea and were often responsible for the eventual designs of ships. Given the lack of actual ships to battle against, it appeared that the captain had decided to fight the ones that still only existed in potential.

"And that why a Shirou, Hikari, and Hibiki fic would never work!" The captain yelled, finishing his tirade in time to notice his first mate approaching. "Uhh. I think I grow weary of our time in these waters, first mate. How long before we get to the inevitable three-way lemon scene so we can go home?"

The first mate raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Sir? There's not going to be a lemon scene."

"What? Why the blood hell not?"

"Well, aside from being completely prohibited on the website, Satire is quite certain that he has no idea how to make any good citrus. For that matter, he's not even sure if there's going to be any sex in this series, off-screen or otherwise."

The captain's eyebrow twitched violently "No Shipping War, no lemon scenes," he threw up his hands. "This is a total waste of time!"

"What about the joy and amusement of people finding happiness in each other which I mentioned earlier, sir?"

"Screw that! No one these days has enough time or empathy for that sort of thing!" He took a few breaths to calm himself down. "Well, at the very least we're close to being done, right?"

The first mate put on a nervous look. "Actually, Satire has just decided that it's going to be a bit longer then he originally planned."

At this point the captain began to speak in a language that was only known to grizzled sea captains. However, anyone who listened could tell you that the language was almost certainly made entirely out of swearwords.

*End Meta*

* * *

"Chiho! I brought you some dango!" Uzume sing-songed as she walked into the hospital room, carrying a container full of the syrup covered dumplings.

The young Ashikabi weakly picked up her head and gave Uzume a beautiful smile in response. "Ah, what kind?" she asked.

"Mitarashi, of course!" the cloth Sekirei replied as she sat down on the bed and began opening the container. Dango was a fairly versatile food considering it was just dumplings, coming in a variety of flavors and styles. Mitarashi was one of the sweeter types, and was chosen as among other things, Chiho happened to share Uzume's sweet tooth. "Here you go." She said as she held out one of the skewers to her beloved.

Chiho took the treat and took a bite, and then proceeded to give a small squeal of delight. "Ah, this is amazing Uzume! I've never had dango this good! Where did you get it?"

"Eh, I had a friend of mine make it. That guy is a really good cook." Indeed, Shirou had been more than happy to apply some of his culinary magic when Uzume asked. She had been nonspecific as to what she wanted it for, but considering that Shirou had made a rather healthy amount of the foodstuff (even for a Sekirei), she had a feeling that he knew anyway.

Somewhat surprisingly, Chiho eyes shone brightly at that comment. "You've made a friend? That's wonderful!"

The cloth Sekirei, somewhat confused at this, responded "What'ca mean?"

The sick girl gave her a patient smile, the kind she usually dons when she explaining something. "You've told me about your housemates before, but you've always talked about them as if you only know them distantly. You keep apart from them because you're afraid to get close to anyone besides me." She tilted her head to the side a bit. "But this is the first time you've ever called one of them a friend. You consider him something more than just someone you know. I'm happy for you, Uzume."

Uzume blushed furiously at her Ashikabi's ability to read her so perfectly. It was true that in spite of Chiho's urgings to tell her about her life, Uzume had never really gone into depth about the people she lived with, not even ever referring to them as friends. That was a little unfair though, as she got along with Miya, Minato, and his flock just fine. By most standards, they would definitely qualify as friends; it's just that she could never bring herself to become too attached to them because someday she would probably have to fight them. Shirou on the other hand… "Yeah, well, Shirou's one of the few people I know who has nothing to do with this whole Sekirei Plan nonsense. I guess it is nice to have someone to talk to about whatever…"

Chiho tilted her head again, this time in confusion. "Shirou-san? He's been one of your housemates for a while now, hasn't he? Why is it this the first time you've referred to him as a friend? What changed?"

Uzume thought back to the morning where she woke up topless next to him and promptly decided to leave that part out. "N-nothing, really. I just learned some things about his past is all."

The Ashikabi looked at her Sekirei for a while longer before giving a small sigh, "Well, whatever the case, I think I should like to meet the man who is making you happy."

Uzume gave a frown. "You make me happy." She pointed out.

Chiho smile became somewhat sad. "Yes, but I can't always be there for you. You should have someone to be with outside of this hospital."

Though else someone listening might have misinterpreted what Chiho had meant, Uzume knew her well enough to know that she wasn't speaking in a romantic context. Chiho was certainly well aware of just how much Uzume loved her, and that she definitely wasn't looking for someone else. The sweet and somewhat naïve girl had simply meant that she was glad that her Sekirei had any kind of companionship outside of her and the hospital she was stuck in.

Of course, that didn't mean Uzume couldn't have some fun with her Ashikabi's suggestive wording.

"That's pretty generous of you, but I'm not sure if I'm really into men like that…" Uzume said with a mischievous grin. "I mean sure, Shirou's a pretty good looking guy, and I'm sure he's good with the ladies…"

Chiho looked at her Sekirei in confusion for a few moments before the realization hit her. "Oh!" she exclaimed with a blush, putting her hand over her mouth. "I-I didn't mean it like that-"

Undeterred, Uzume pressed on. "I mean, I can get the appeal of a male's naked body. Hell, maybe even do some appreciating myself if it's the right guy," The intensity of Chiho blush increased with Uzume's description. "but it would be just too different for me. However," the cloth Sekirei said this with a lecherous glint in her eye. "I suppose if you were there too-"

"UZUME!" the young girl exclaimed in embarrassment with a face so red it looked like it was about to light on fire. She stuttered some more before giving up, flopping back down on the bed and covering her whole head in her blanket.

Uzume giggled uncontrollably at her shy Ashikabi's reaction, lying down next to her and cuddling her blanket covered form. The rest of the day was spent with the two next to each other, sharing pieces of dango in a manner that anyone would define as 'adorable'.

* * *

The two of them danced across the clearing of the park, a blindingly fast series of strikes, parries, and dodges that any non-Sekirei would have been hard pressed to follow. It was the second time that Uzume had run into the Kensei Sekirei while trying to terminate one of Higa's targets, and this time she had no intention of running away. The Ashikabi of the East had made it quite clear that the next time she ran into the rouge Sekirei, she was to take him down. The swordsman had already interfered with a number of Higa's plans, and he was becoming increasingly frustrated with the elusive vigilante. As such, it was getting to the point where his threats to Chiho were becoming far less veiled and far more overt.

No matter what, Uzume knew that she could not lose this fight.

Unfortunately, the Kensei Sekirei was still living up to his title by being impossibly good with those swords of his. It wasn't just his swordplay either, as he had great reflexes and combat sense in general. Uzume had a range advantage, but it just wasn't enough. Still, she had been practicing for this encounter, and had a single ace up her sleeve.

The cloth Sekirei fought for a little while longer before slowing down just a bit, as if becoming tired. The Kensei Sekirei took the opening and moved closer to strike. However, just when he was within a few feet, Uzume unleashed her new technique. Pushing her abilities as far as she could, she suddenly made a large number of cloth spears shoot out from her body at the man, not just from the front but also several from her back which moved in an arc toward their target.

The swordsman reacted to the attack with obvious surprise, stopping his forward movement as fast as he could while bringing his blades up to block the onslaught. While he successfully managed to stop the direct spears, he was not fast enough to defend against the arcing ones, just barley moving forward enough so that only two managed to hit him, leaving a deep, X like cut in his back. It wasn't enough to take him down, but that didn't matter to Uzume. She quickly took control of the cloth spears so that they would unravel, and then commanded the numerous bolts of cloth to quickly wrap around the man, binding almost his entire body in silk. He gave a low grunt as he found his arms pinned to the sides of his body, his swords caught in the bindings as well. Wasting no time, Uzume gather up what was left of her cloth to form one last spear and shot it her opponent.

However, before it could connect, it was suddenly intercepted by a broadsword which shot down from midair to pierce it into the ground. Looking up in shock, Uzume managed to see several more swords fall from the sky and cut through the cloth that bound the Kensei Sekirei; not enough to free him completely, but enough to loosen them to the point where his sword arms could do the rest. She tried to step back, but the cloth spear pined to the ground caused her to stumble backwards, letting her look above her in time to see several more swords pop into existence and shoot down, pining her to the ground by stabbing through the ends of the other cloth spears she made.

She guessed that answered whether or not those rumors about the Kensei Sekirei being able to conjure swords were true.

For a moment both fighters were still, with Uzume pinned to the ground and the Kensei standing over her, the sound of their heavy panting the only noise in the clearing. Uzume wasn't afraid for her life; she had both heard of and seen his non-aggressive nature, so he would most likely just walk away and leave her to her own devices. However, this did nothing to help the growing pit of despair she was feeling in her stomach.

The man was looking off into the woods when she heard the words escape her lips "I failed…" causing him to look back at her. Uzume didn't notice as her eyes were shut, small tears running down the sides of her face. It didn't matter that her wasn't going to finish her; the fact that she lost meant that Higa would make good on his threat and stop giving Chiho the treatment she needed to live. "I'm so sorry, Chiho…"

Whatever he thought of this display was unknown, as but a moment later he suddenly jumped back just before a woman with a lance managed to skewer him by dropping out of the sky. "Hmm. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. You never really did have the instinct of a real fighter."

Another woman, this one in a yellow and black harlequin outfit, landed on the other side of her. "Not to mention your lack of skill." The harlequin remarked with a smirk.

Toyotama and Ichiya. Two of Higa's most loyal Sekirei. Uzume hated the two for a number of reasons, but the most immediate one was that they had apparently been spying on her fight with the Kensei Sekirei and hadn't helped.

"Oy, don't give us that look," Toyotama said as she twirled her lance. "Our master wanted us to make sure that you fought as hard as you could." She gave a smile that was anything but pleasant. "And you did, not that it mattered."

"Hey Toyo, don't be harsh." Ichiya said in a mocking tone before gesturing to the swordsman standing about 2 dozen feet away, watching the scene before him cautiously. "At least she wore him down for us. Taking him out now should be easy pickings."

"Yeah, well, too bad 'wear him down' wasn't her orders." The lance user responded before hefting said weapon up. "He may have said to bring you back so he could deal with you himself in the case you failed, but I don't think our Master will mind too much if I handle this right now." She pointed the lance down at Uzume's heart. "Good night, little bird." She said with an evil grin, and drove the weapon downward.

Before it could reach Uzume though, another broadsword appeared and sliced the lance in half. Oddly enough, this wasn't the most surprising thing for the Sekirei.

The most surprising thing was that said broadsword had done so by suddenly erupting from Toyotama's stomach.

The lance user looked down at the two feet of steel protruding from her abdomen with wide eyes for a moment before they rolled up to the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground. Uzume and Ichiya looked at the Kensei in shock. He hadn't moved, but it was clear from the earlier fight who was responsible.

"Y-you… you bastard!" Ichiya screamed before launching herself at him.

It wasn't even a contest. Now that he was using his ability to create and launch swords at will, the hand-to-hand fighter couldn't even get close. It came to a head when, after receiving numerous wounds already, the Kensei Sekirei threw one of his sabers at her. She managed to dodge it, but as she charged him the blade suddenly reversed course and lodged itself in her back.

Uzume stared dumbfounded at the man, barely even noticing that the blades which pinned her down had disappeared. She managed to find her voice as the man started to leave. "Wait!" she called out, causing the hooded face to turn back to her. Not knowing what to make of what just happened, the cloth Sekirei simple asked "Why?" She just didn't understand this man at all. At first he just seemed like he wanted to interrupt fights, but now he had just terminated two Sekirei right in front of her. Why?

The swordsman paused for a moment before rubbing the back of his head with the pommel of his sword, a gesture that seemed oddly familiar to Uzume. Eventually, he let the blade disappear and used his free hand to simply point at her. It was strange, but the meaning was clear:

_For you_

And with that, he dashed off into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

*Begin Meta*

"…"

"…"

"Um, captain?"

"Eh?"

"Aren't we supposed to be doing some wacky, meta-shipping hijinks right now?"

"Naw, Satire can't think of anything like that at the moment."

"Oh. So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Oh, I suppose we could just stand around and talk about our feelings."

"…I hate you, sir."

"Eh? Sorry, I didn't catch that. I was too busy thinking of how awesome a captain I am."

"*sigh*…Never mind."

*End Meta*

* * *

_Ok_, Uzume thought to herself as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. _Today is the day._

This was the day she would wear the chicken suit.

The cloth Sekirei gave sigh as she looked down at the ridiculous outfit she was wearing. Cannery yellow and covered in feathers, the only part of the costume that showed her skin was the hole in the mouth for her face. Her love of cosplay was well known to the Izumo House, but this was really pushing it for how silly she was willing to look. However, she knew it would crack Chiho up, and she didn't know how much time there was left…

Uzume shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. It wouldn't do to dwell on such things. In any case, the outfit was silly enough that Uzume had actually waited for just the right moment for everyone to be out of the house or preoccupied when she left. The lot of Minato's Sekirei were out for the shopping race, Minato himself was out with Seo on some freelance job, Miya was currently out back at her husband's shrine, and Shirou was out for his repairman job.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out quite as she planned, as the moment she opened the door to her room, which was coincidently the exact moment she realized she could just put the costume on once she got to the hospital, she found herself face to face with young repairman, stopped midstride in the hallway carrying a bundle of fabrics.

"S-S-Shirou!" Uzume stuttered out, her face going red with embarrassment. "What are you doing back?"

The red head stared at her dumbly for a moment before saying "I, uh, finished my job early, so I decided to come back and clean out my workshop." He gestured with the pile of cloth he held. "I was, uh, just going to throw out some rags and, uh… ok, what with the chicken suit?" he said, giving up on trying to be nonplused about the situation.

"I… um…" Uzume said, rubbing the back of her head with a feathered arm in a motion she took from the man standing in front of her. Eventually she gave up on trying to find a way to make the situation less awkward and sagged her shoulders. "Man, we just keep finding ourselves in weird circumstances, don't we?" She gave a sigh she and started to take off the outfit, mentally cursing herself for not thinking of the whole 'get dressed when you get there' thing sooner. Once she managed to get the top half off, she said "It's for my Ashikabi."

Shirou blinked at this, clearly surprised that Uzume brought up the person which she normally was so secret about. "Your Ashikabi asked you to dress like a giant chicken?"

"Naw," she said as she slipped off the bottom half. "I was gonna surprise her with it. She usually gets a laugh when I show up in a new outfit."

The red head tilted his head to the side. "You mean you wear all your cosplay outfits for her?"

"Pretty much…" she replied. "I like her see something more colorful than the beige walls she has to stare at all day long."

Shirou's brow furrowed. "Why would she stare at walls all day? What does she do?"

Uzume's eyes widened when she realized she had said more than she intended to and stopped talking, casting her gaze down and shifting uncomfortably. She had resolved that she would never tell anyone else about the condition of her Ashikabi, but she had almost told Shirou about it without thinking. She had gotten so use to talking to him about whatever that she had forgotten there were things she wanted to hold back.

Shirou saw how uncomfortable she became, and realized the position he just put her in. He may just be a boring normal guy for the most part, but the man could be surprisingly observant. He had noticed that Uzume was always reluctant to talk about the one she was bonded to and was usually carful to keep conversation away from the topic. He probably thought Uzume was just starting to open up about it.

Shirou put up his hands as best he could with the load he was carrying, saying "That's ok, you don't have to tell me." The two of them stood in silence for a few moments before he continued. "Well, I guess I'm going to throw these out." He turned to leave.

Even Uzume was surprised when she heard the soft words escape her lips. "She's sick."

He stopped and turned back to the cloth Sekirei, his own surprise clear on his face. She wasn't entirely sure why she was suddenly talking about it, but she knew that if there was anyone she could talk about this with, it would be Shirou.

"The doctors aren't really sure what it is," she continued, all of the playful mirth that was usually present in her voice gone. "They use words like 'retroviral' and 'degenerative', but all I really understand is that she got sick when she was young and it's been eating away at her ever since. She has to spend all her time in the hospital, as even the slightest bit of physical effort can make her condition worse."

"I'm… sorry. I had no idea."

She gave a slight nod as she looked off into space. "It's alright. She always tries to look on the bright side out things, but that hospital is so drab I don't know how she can stand it. Whatever the case, I do everything I can to make sure she's happy." Her expression became darker. "I suppose that's why I can work for that man…"

Shirou said nothing, and Uzume continued in a dead tone. "The man who controls her treatment wanted me to do all his dirty work in the Sekirei Plan, and I did." She didn't mean to tell him this, but she found she couldn't stop talking. "I never wanted any part to this stupid plan, but I took down numerous Sekirei because he ordered me to. Chiho would never want me to do the things I've done for her sake, but it didn't matter so long as she was safe."

Tears started to well up in her eyes, and she clenched her fist so hard she could feel her nails cutting into her palms. "But, that doesn't matter anymore… I… I…"

She couldn't stop. The weight of her shame, her failure, her despair caused her to fall to her knees, the tears beginning to flow. "I failed her!" she sobbed. "I couldn't beat the last target, and now the bastard is going to cut off her treatment!" Higa was furious when she returned to him last night and told him that not only did she fail to terminate the Kensei Sekirei, but that Toyotama and Ichiya were terminated as well. He hadn't actually said that their deal was off, but Uzume knew that the only reason he hadn't said it yet was that she probably attack him if he did.

Her hands came up to cover her face, as if it could hold back the emotions she had kept bottled up for so long. "Fighting for her was the one thing I could do to keep her safe, and I wasn't good enough! The person I love is dying and I can't do anything! I failed her! I-"

She was suddenly cut off when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, and finally noticed that Shirou had fallen on his knees in front of her, embracing her in hug, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" was all he said, over and over again.

She didn't know why he was so affected by her plight, but the act of kindness broke down the last of her restraint. She leaned forward, causing the two if them to topple over, with her on top of him, crying as hard as she could into his chest while he held her.

She didn't know how long the two of them stayed like that, lying on the ground in each other's arms. Eventually her crying subsided, and Uzume brought her head up to look at the red head. "Sorry I keep ending up on top of you." She sniffled.

Shirou gave a small chuckle as he looked back down at her. "At least you have you top on this time."

Uzume gave a snort and buried her face in his chest again for a moment longer, feeling the warmth of his body and strength of his arms around her. It felt safe in that embrace, like everything would be alright in the end. She picked up her head again and rested her chin against his chest. "Thank you. Thank you for being here for me. I've been carrying that for so long I forgot how much it was weighing me down."

He gave her a smile. "That's what friends are for."

The cloth Sekirei picked herself up, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to clear her mind. When she opened them she found Shirou sitting up as well, a small frown on his face as he looked at her. Uzume waved her hand at him. "Stop worrying, I'll be fine." She paused as she looked the chicken suit she had planned to wear, the circumstances of her situation coming back to her. "Well, better anyway."

"Uzume, I just… I'm sorry, for everything you've had to go through. No one should have to go through that. I see how much pain it's causing you, and I just want to fix everything."

She gave a small laugh with a hint of bitterness. "I suppose that's your nature, being a repairman and all. I don't suppose you're able to fix people, are you?"

Oddly enough, Shirou didn't respond to this, instead looking down at the ground with a scowl on his face, like he was thinking of something unpleasant. After a few moments he nodded to himself, as if coming to a decision. "Uzume, I-"

That was as far as he got before he suddenly stiffened, his head turning around as if to look at something that just got his attention.

"Shirou? What is it?"

He turned back to her, a nervous look on his face. "It's nothing, I just… forgot about something I have to do." He quickly brought himself to his feet. "I have to go, but I'd like to talk to you later if that's alright. There's something I like to get off my chest too."

Uzume blinked in surprise at his suddenness, but then gave him a smile. "Yeah, no problem bro!"

He returned the smile, but the cloth Sekirei could have sworn there was something sad in it. Before she could think about it too much, he left the room and could be heard swiftly exiting the house.

Uzume sat still for a moment before giving a small chuckle to herself. _He may be kinda dull, but he's a pretty good guy. He's going to make some girl really happy. Well, if he ever gets over Rin and Saber anyway._ She was about to pick herself up of the ground to collect her thing when she noticed the pile of rags on her floor. _Right, he was going to throw those out. Must've forgot about them._ Looking closer, she managed to see the sleeve of a long sleeve shirt sticking out of the pile. _A ruined shirt? Why would he throw it away? He knows__ I'd be more than happy to fix it for him._ She pulled at the sleeve to bring it to her, half expecting it to be in tatters. However, for the more part the shirt seemed fine, apart from-

Uzume's grip on the shirt tightened, so much so that her knuckles turned white. There, on the back of the shirt, were two long, bloody cuts in the shape of an X.

* * *

Uzume ran down the street, occasionally stopping to ask someone if they had seen a tall, red headed man walk by. She had bolted out of the inn as soon as she realized it, but Shirou had already disappeared out of sight. Fortunately for her, tall red heads weren't exactly common in Japan, so a number of people had noticed him as he walked past. It was much slower going than she would have liked, often needing to backtrack or guess which way he went, but she was still on his trail.

She gritted her teeth as she rounded another corner, heading into the industrial district. _How the hell did I never notice?_ she thought to herself. The numerous ripped clothing she fixed for him, the way he keep himself apart from the rest of the house except her, the fact he was the same height and build as her opposite, the way both of them rubbed the back of their head in the same manner. Admittedly, they were all a bunch of small things which no one would think about on their own, but it seemed so obvious when it was all put together: Shirou was the Kensei Sekirei.

To be fair, Uzume had to admit that it was a brilliant plan. She had simply hid her Ashikabi and her identity when she was fighting. Shriou had hid the fact that he was a Sekirei altogether, letting everyone think that he was just a simple human with no part in the Sekirei Plan whatsoever. That left him free to operate as he pleased and gave him a substantial advantage in the plan.

Uzume frowned to herself at this last thought. While it did give him an advantage, it still didn't explain what he was doing with it. Everything he had done so far had been to the hindrance of the plan, with no possible gain for himself. Maybe his Ashikabi had told him to do it.

The cloth Sekirei blinked to herself as she stumbled across another puzzle piece she didn't get. Just who was his Ashikabi? Was it maybe Rin or Saber? Or for that matter, since he was a Sekirei, did that make everything he said about his past a lie? Matsu had done a background check on him when he entered the household, but everything seemed to check out, even if it was a little vague. Shirou Emiya had attended high school in Fuyuki city and left for England shortly after, which was impossible if he was a Sekirei. Maybe he just did his research and found some human's identity to co-op for the Sekirei Plan. Maybe he just made up the story of Rin and Saber to throw people off his trail.

She considered it for a moment before she shook her head, leaping over a fruit cart in dead sprint as she did so. No, she had seen his face when he was thinking about them while he slept. Whatever else he might have made up, they were real, and he defiantly still loved them. That meant one of them was probably his Ashikabi and the other was… what?

Speaking of Ashikabis, Shriou now knew about hers. Not only that, he had probably figured out from the talk they just had that she was the Veiled Sekirei, if he didn't already know. Now that he knew about her, he would…

Well, actually, he wouldn't do anything. Everything she knew about both Shirou and the Kensei Sekirei told her that he would never target an Ashikabi, especially Uzume's considering that the only two terminations he had were to save her life. Hell, he already had her dead to rights and spared her, so she could probably toss the idea of him having ill intentions right out.

All of these facts tumbled around in her head until she found herself standing on the road next to a dump of a park where she was told he was seen entering. It was then that all these facts came together to ask her one, simple question: _Why am I following him?_

He didn't know she had figured out his identity. She was pretty sure that he wasn't up to anything nefarious at the moment, or even had any malicious intent at all. Really, the far smarter thing to do was just wait till he came home and confront him when she was ready, not chase him across the city and confront him when she was half exhausted.

Uzume looked into the withered forest hesitantly, trying to understand what she was feeling. More than anything else, she felt… betrayed. As hypocritical as it was, she felt betrayed that Shirou had lied to her about who he was. He was the one person she knew who wasn't a part of any of this, the one person she could count on not to have any ulterior motive. She felt she had just lost one of the most important things in her life because she learned who he really was. That he was a Sekirei, and because of that, no matter how anything else might turn out, she would have to fight him to stay with Chiho.

With a deep breath, she dashed into the park. She had some questions for him which he was damn well going to answer. Why was he trying to disrupt the Sekirei Plan? Why had things gone bad between him, Rin and Saber? Why had he decided to hide his identify as a Sekirei? Why did he befriend her when he knew she was going to fight him one day?

Why did he have to make her love him?

As she moved deeper into the woods, she managed to catch the faint sounds of battle. Wrapping herself in the cloth outfit her alter ego was known for, she carefully moved towards the noise. When she reached the edge of the clearing, she hid in the foliage and watched the conflict unfold in front of her, titling her head in confusion as he did so.

It seemed that Shirou was fighting another Sekirei (and another male at that, dressed in a rather impressive looking blue suit), but he hadn't bothered to put on his disguise. What's more was that the other Sekirei had a very odd power, controlling a pool of liquid mercury that could shift and harden at his command, fast enough that even Shirou's ridiculously fast conjured swords couldn't get past his defense. The man was also talking quite a bit, but it was some of the things he said which truly confused the cloth Sekirei.

"Structural Analysis? Truly? Is this the best the son of the Magus Killer could accomplish?" He said in a mocking tone.

_Structural what now? Magus Killer? Son?_ Uzume thought to herself. Half of what he said didn't make any sense, but what little she could make out implied that this was some kind of blood feud between families. This, of course, made absolutely no sense as they were both Sekirei and the closest thing any of them had to a family was MBI. The only thing she did know for certain was that there was a lot more going on with that red head's past than she thought.

As the two men fought some more, a rather unpleasant thought creeped up from the back of her mind. _Shirou's clearly having trouble wi__th this fight. If he wins, this will be the best chance I'll ever have to take him down._ Uzume knew that she would never be able to win in a straight up fight with the man; he was just too good. But given how strained he looked now…

She felt a sickening pit grow in her stomach when she thought of attacking the man she had come to care about in the past few weeks, but what choice did she have? There could only be one Sekirei and Ashikabi at the end of the plan, and she loved Chiho too much not to do everything she could to stay with her. She had no choice, right?

Her dilemma was interrupted when she saw Shirou somehow manage to close the distance between him and his opponent, stabbing the silvery shell with some weird looking knife. Much to her and his opponent's surprise, the shell collapsed and turned into an inert, silver liquid. Unfortunately for Shirou, the surprise didn't last very long and the man threw out his hand, saying something Uzume didn't understand as a blast of wind shot out from his limb.

Shirou tried to dodge, but was too slow, catching the blast almost full in the chest. The blow shredded some of his clothes and sent him tumbling back a ways. He struggled to lift himself off the ground as the other man strode towards him, an angry snarl on his face.

_He's going to lose._ Uzume thought to herself. _I don't have to do anything. I can just let this happen and I won't have to fight him._

She thought about the first time he had sheepishly asked her to patch up his clothes.

The man came to a stop.

She thought about all those times at the dinner table, the two of them apart from the rest of the household.

The man raised his hand.

She thought about him holding her, making her feel safe.

The man opened his mouth.

She thought about his smile.

The next thing she knew, she was standing behind the well dressed man, one of her cloth spears stabbed through his heart.

The man looked down in surprise, a few gurgles coming from his throat before he collapsed onto the ground. Uzume looked down at him for a moment before turning her attention to Shirou. He looked at her with confused and unfocused eyes.

"U-Uzume?..." he managed to say before the his weariness and injuries caused him to slump over.

Uzume looked at him for a few moments longer before carefully gathering him up in a cloth hammock and carrying him out of the park.


	5. Chapter 5

Uzume was somewhat surprised when she heard a groan coming from behind her. She turned away from the view of the city skyline she had on the edge of the rooftop and looked at Shirou, who was currently propped up against a protruding vent. The surprise came from the fact that it had only been about twenty minutes since she intervened in the fight between him and the other Sekirei, and had subsequently brought him to a distant roof so she could think about what to do next. With the extent of the injuries that received, she expected him to be out much longer.

His eyes finally slid into focus, locking on to Uzume's cloth clad form. "Ughhh… Uzume?" He said with a small amount of surprise. "What are you… wait, I was fighting Archibald, and then… did you save me?"

She walked toward the young man, a wary expression on her face. "He had you dead to rights at the end there, bro. I decided I'd much rather keep you alive and figure out what the hell is going on with you than watch you die, so I stepped in. It's against the rules, but I have a feeling that neither one of us particularly care about those." She remarked with a bit a dry humor. "In any case, I had a hell of a time patching you up. I figured to be out for at least an hour or two."

Shirou looked down at his body and found his torso and arms almost completely wrapped in cloth, his tattered shirt cast aside. He would have made for a decent mummy impression if there weren't numerous blotches of red blood seeping through from his wounds. "Yeah, well, I guess you can say I'm kind of used to this."

Uzume gave a snort. "I can imagine. I saw your scars." While she was undressing him to treat his wounds, she found that his body had a surprisingly large number of scars coving it in a variety of shapes and forms. The most prominent ones were a pair of matching, red starburst scars on his chest and back. It looked fairly nasty and recent, but many of the other seemed to be years old. It looked like he had been getting into trouble for a very long time. After a moment's pause, she continued. "So, you don't seem too surprised to see me like this." She gestured down to her outfit. "I guess you figured out from our little talk that I'm the notorious Veiled Sekirei."

Shirou shook his head. "Actually, I knew it as soon as I fought you the first time. Even before that I had some suspicions based on your description."

Uzume took a step back in shock "W-What? How?"

The red head paused for a moment before answering with a shrug. "You smell like clean linens."

Uzume just blinked at this response for a few second, not really expecting that particular answer. She thought back to all her interactions with him, looking at them with the knowledge that he knew her identity the whole time. "So… I guess that's why you were willing to terminate Toyotama and Ichiya to save me."

He grimaced at the memory. "Well, yes."

She looked at the ground, her fists tightening as she fought to control her emotions. "Why?" she asked. "Why do you care about me? You know that we're just going to have to fight each other in the end."

Shirou tilted his head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about? The bloody Sekirei Plan is what I'm talking about!" She yelled at him incredulously. "MBI won't let us out of the plan just because we don't want to fight! At some point, were going to have to terminate each other for the sake of our Ashikabi! I never would have become friends with you if I knew you weren't human!"

He gave her a confused look before one of comprehension came over his face. "Right. I almost forgot that they called me the Kensei Sekirei…" he muttered, almost half to himself. He then looked at Uzume with a critical look. "Wait, you're telling me that you striped me and bandaged my wounds, but you didn't notice?"

"Notice what?" Uzume almost shouted in frustration.

Without saying anything, Shirou awkwardly turned himself around in his sitting position, his hand moving to peel away the bandages from his upper back. Uzume didn't know what she was supposed to be looking at, just seeing a space of unblemished skin.

She suddenly stiffened when she realized that _was_ what she was supposed to be looking at.

Shirou had no crest.

"Y-You're unwinged?" she asked. She felt rather surprised at the fact someone as strong as Shirou was unwinged, especially given how much he seemed to love Rin and Saber. Was that why he always seemed so sad when he thought about them? He had somehow reacted to both and couldn't bring himself to choose one over the other?

She was also feeling a bit foolish for not noticing this when she was treating him, but to be fair, she had been much more focused on his injuries at the time (as well as… other parts of him).

She saw a frown on his face when he turned back to her. "You don't get your crest until you're winged? I didn't know that. In any case, that's not what I'm trying to say."

Uzume, now thoroughly confused, asked "Well, then what does it mean?"

"It means I'm human."

The rooftop was silent for a moment before a scowl settled on her face. "What? You can't possible expect me to believe that crap. You can shoot swords created from nothing like fastballs of god's sake!"

"Oh, I'm most certainly not a normal human, but I'm still human nonetheless." He replied.

Uzume stared at him in disbelief. "If that's the case, then just what the hell are you? For that matter, who the hell are you? Is your name even Shirou Emiya?"

He nodded. "Yes, that is my real name. I probably should have changed it though. I might have been able to avoid today's little 'activities' if I did."

"Are you saying that the guy you fought with the classy fashion sense is one of you… abnormal humans too?"

Shriou nodded again. "You can say that."

Uzume was starting to lose her patience with his vague answers. "Stop dancing around it and just tell me already! What. Are. You?"

The two off them stared at each other in tense silence for a moment before he simply said "I am a magus."

Uzume blinked, once again receiving an answer that she was very much not expecting. "A what?"

"A magus. One who practices magecraft. A person who is capable of casting spells and uses a force which is commonly referred to as magic." He explained patiently.

"…What."

He gave a sigh and patted the ground next to him. "Have a seat. This is going to take a while to explain."

* * *

For the better part of an hour, Uzume listened to Shirou's story. Any preconception that he was just a boring, normal guy was completely erased with his rather impressive tale. It was so ridiculous and over the top that Uzume thought it would make a pretty good plot for an urban fantasy anime; A war between wizards every sixty years for a magic wish giving cup? Summoning ancient heroes to do battle for them? Shirou being orphaned by the fallout of the previous war? And what was that last bit about all the evils of man infecting the cup and threatening to destroy mankind?

Uzume shook her head in disbelief. "Look, I maybe, just maybe, be able to believe that you're just a human with some weird abilities, but that is just flat out absurd. There's no way all that crazy stuff could have happened, let alone you surviving it. For that matter, you still haven't convinced me that you actually have magic. It could be genetic engineering, or psychics or whatever."

Shirou gave a small chuckle. "You'll find no arguments from me on how absurd my life is. But if you still don't believe in magic…" he leaned forward and started drawing some strange marks in the roof gravel, muttering something to himself as he did so. When he finished, the marks (which he had made in a small circle) began to glow, and a tiny tornado came into existence in the middle of the circle. "Does that look magical enough?"

Uzume stared in wonder as the small twister danced in the circle for a bit before it sputtered and died. While she certainly wasn't an expert on it, as far as she knew Sekireis could only have one power, and Shirou's little display of wind in addition to his sword making abilities gave him two. Now that she thought about it, didn't that other guy also have wind powers in addition to that silver stuff?

Also, if little glowing runes didn't mean magic, she didn't know what did.

"If that still doesn't convince you, you could try asking Matsu for a full list of the Sekirei." He continued. "I have no idea why Minato hasn't taken advantage of her ability yet, but she can hack into the MBI database and bring up profiles on all 108 of you. At the very least, you'll see that I'm not in any of MBI's official files."

Uzume slowly nodded her head as she carefully thought about what she had just learned. "So, you're really not part of the plan…" she said slowly. _I don't have to fight him._ She thought to herself. A feeling of relief and warmth spread through her at the realization that she wouldn't be forced to hurt her closest friend. However, that still left the question… "…then, why are you running around interfering with fights?"

Shriou frowned as he titled his head to the side. "Because the Sekirei Plan is horribly cruel. No one should have their loved one ripped away from them because some asshole with money and power thought he could play with people's lives." He said this with a hint of bitterness, looking away from Uzume at something only he could see.

It took her a few moments to realize where she had seen that look before. "Shirou," she said softly. "What happened with Rin and Saber?"

He didn't answer her immediately, instead continuing to stare at the skyline. He had made brief mention of how he had met the two of them during his time in Fuyuki city, and he had also said that after the war he had gone to England to be a sorcerer's apprentice or something, but he hadn't told her anything that had happened after that.

When he did speak it was in a dry, clinical tone. "When I went to the Clock Tower, there were a lot of people who looked down on me. I wasn't of noble birth for one thing, and they had a rather racist view of Asians for another. The only reason I was accepted at all was because I had Rin backing me. Still, that didn't stop a few self entitled young nobles from harassing me. It got to the point where one of them decided to trash my workshop."

Uzume thought back to the shed in the adjacent lot. "What's so bad about that? Sure it's a jerk thing to do, but you make it sound like it was something to kill him over."

Shirou just shook his head. "In the world of magi, it is something to kill over. Breaking the sanctum of a workshop is the worst insult you can do to a magus. And considering that I had mine protected with a geas that forced anyone who broke into my workshop into a death match with me, I did kill him over it."

She shuddered at how coldly he had remarked that he had killed a man. "So, I take it his family didn't like that…"

"No they didn't. Out of spite, they managed to get my workshop searched by the Clock Tower under the pretense that I was doing illegal research. It was supposed to be just a final harassment on their part; they didn't actually think I was working on something forbidden." He gave a sigh. "Unfortunately for me, I actually was."

"Really? What was it?"

Shirou dismissively waved his hand. "A powerful form of magic that often caused those to research it to go insane, but that's not important. What is important is the fact that I actually succeeded."

"What do you mean?"

"The Clock Tower is primarily a research organization, and they don't exactly have what you would call 'scientific ethics'. I had achieved something which only six other people in recorded history had done, and given how personal the magic was in nature, it wasn't something I could just teach other people. Therefore, their solution would be to vivisect me to find out what makes me tick."

Uzume blanched at this, shocked at how barbaric these magi were. MBI wasn't exactly all rainbows and sunshine, and they had their fair share of mad scientists, but they would never do something like that. "So you had to run." She said, the pieces coming together in her head.

He nodded. "I managed to find out about it about an hour before their Enforcers were to capture me. I barely had anytime to pack, let alone talk it over with Rin and Saber."

Uzume frowned. "Did they not want to come with you?"

"No, they did, and that was the problem." He gave a sigh. "Understand, I am going to be on the run from the Clock Tower for the rest of my life. I'll never be able to truly settle down. Hell, if I didn't know that Archibald was working alone, I would be on my way out of the city right now."

"You would leave? Just like that?" Uzume asked incredulously, surprised that he would so readily give up everything he had gained these past six months. Nervously, she thought to herself _Would he really just leave me?_

Shirou nodded in confirmation. "If they knew where I was, they would come after me. If they came after me, the people around me would get hurt. And that's to say nothing of what they would do to the Sekirei if they found out about you. It's best for everyone if I just leave." He took a deep breath before continuing. "That's why I couldn't let Rin and Saber go with me. They shouldn't have to be forced to live a life on the run because of me. Of course, they disagreed. Our last conversation was… ugly to say the least. However, I finally managed to convince them to let me go." She could tell he was trying to control him himself, but he couldn't keep the sadness out of his voice as he said that.

Uzume looked at him with wide eyes as he said this. "You're really willing to be separated from them." She said in an awed whisper. "You still love them, but so long as they're safe, you're willing to never see them again."

When Shriou nodded his head again, Uzume could feel her heart slip a beat. All this time she had been fighting for Chiho, doing terrible things to keep her safe, she felt like she was alone in the world. How could anyone understand what she had been through, to be alone against something much bigger than themselves for the sake of someone they love? And now, Shirou had just shown her that he knew exactly what that was like.

Uzume had never felt so close to another person as she did in that moment.

Slowly and gently, she found her hand wrapping around his, her body leaning itself against his. He stiffened in surprise at first, but at seeing the look of empathy on Uzume's face, he relaxed and leaned back into her as well.

The two of them sat like for a few minutes, watching clouds pass behind the skyline, before Shirou got to his feet with a sigh. "Well, we need to go take care of that body in the park before we go back to the inn, and I'm feeling good enough to move now." With that, he began removing the bandages that covered his body.

Uzume stood up with him in mild alarm. "Oy, oy! I know you're tough, but you shouldn't remove-" That was as far as she got before the words froze in her throat at the sight of his body. Or more specifically, the sight of his completely healed body. Sure, there was some red on his right arm where there used to be a rather nasty wound, but other than that (and the numerous scars he already had) he looked perfectly fine. "H-how are you…?" she managed to stutter out. It had only been a little over an hour since he had taken those injuries. There was no way he could have healed that fast.

Shirou look down at his body in confusion before face palming. "Ah, I can't believe I forgot. This," he said while gesturing to his body, "is actually what I was talking about when I said I wanted to talk to you later."

"That you have super healing?"

"Well, it's actually an incredibly powerful healing artifact imbedded in my body, but yes. I was going to try to think of a way to explain it without mentioning magic, but that's somewhat pointless now."

Uzume looked at him in confusion. "I don't get it. Why did you think it was so important to tell me about it?"

Shirou gave her a very serious look. "Because I believe I can use it to cure Chiho."

Uzume body went completely still as she felt something swell within her, a feeling she had not allowed herself to feel in a very long time: hope.


	6. Chapter 6

Chiho clapped enthusiastically as Uzume twirled in place, showing off the very elaborate princess gown she had made. It was a bright canary yellow, with ruffles along the skirt and a few strategically placed rhinestones over the bodice. To cap it off, she wore a simple tiara on a head of unusually free hair, bereft of it's usually pony tail. Uzume could easily say that this dress was the hardest she ever created due to the absurd amount of detail it had. Not only that, it took far too much effort to put on at all, what with all the lacey under things needed to support the rest of it. Adding the fact that she generally disliked looking as girly as she did at that moment, she had never really expected to finish or wear the outfit, even though Chiho had expressed an interest in seeing her dressed like a princess.

Then again, today was a very special day.

"It's beautiful, Uzume!" The bedridden girl exclaimed. "I'm never seen an outfit so pretty!"

Uzume smiled at her Ashikabi's complement. "Yeah, I think I really out did myself this time. But, this isn't the only surprise I have for you."

"Really?"

"Yep!" With that, she walked over to the room's door and grasped the handle. Then, with a dramatic gesture, she stepped to the side and opened the door. "Ta-da!"

For some reason, Chiho simply looked at her confused. Uzume peered around the edge of the door and found that the source of her confusion was the fact that the doorway was empty. "Shirou! I thought I told you stand in the doorway till I opened the door!"

A voice in the hallway said "I still feel incredibly silly wearing this…"

Uzume rolled her eyes and walked out into the hall. "Oy, less Prince Whining, more Prince Dashing." She grabbed Shirou's arm and dragged him into room with her.

Shirou grumbled as he was led on by Uzume, and Chiho's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the tall red head. He was dressed in a fancy blue tunic with white trousers, with a flowing blue cape hanging off the shoulders, though more notable was the silver armor he wore. It wasn't a full set, rather just a breast plate with some additional plating on the forearms and shins, but it did quite well to give it an extra air of nobility. When he had explained to Uzume what exactly he could do with his wizard powers, she insisted that he add those to the outfit. Although he was reluctant to put it on in the first place, she found that the old sad puppy dog face worked wonders in getting the young man to do what she wanted.

And to be fair to him, he really did look good in the outfit, like some kind of warrior prince. Uzume wanted Chiho's first impression of Shirou to be a good one, and judging by the slowly growing blush on her Ashikabi's face, she succeeded.

"Y-you're the Shirou-san Uzume has told me about?" she stuttered slightly as she looked him. Chiho had always been a fan of classical fairytale princes and princesses, which was part of the reason why Uzume had Shirou dress the part along with her. Given how long Chiho had been in the hospital, this was probably the first time she had ever seen a man that looked that prince like in person.

Of course, this was something of a case of the clothes making the man, seeing as how Shirou had shifted to his usual habit of rubbing the back of his head in nervousness. "Um, yes? I don't think Uzume knows any other Shirous…" He looked uncomfortable for a moment longer before recollecting himself. "I'm sorry, let me try that again. My name is Shirou Emiya. I will be in your care." He said this with a bow, though rather than doing it in the traditional Japanese manner with his hands at his sides, he unconsciously put his arms horizontally to the ground, with one in front and one in back in a rather gentleman like fashion.

Chiho's blush increased slightly at this. "I-I'm Chiho Hidaka. Please take care of me too."

Shirou walked towards the young woman, a slight frown on his face. "I'm sorry, is this a bad time? You're looking somewhat flushed…"

Uzume held back a snicker has Shirou continued to look confused. Apparently, as smart as he was, he was kinda dense when it came to girls. Uzume herself had been a little unsure how exactly her Ashikabi regarded the opposite sex, but it now seemed she liked them just fine. Of course, it probably helped that her first real interaction with a male in a long time involved a rather handsome man dressed like Prince Charming.

"Ah! No, no, I'm fine!" Chiho said quickly.

_Heh, Chiho's so cute when she's flustered_, Uzume thought to herself while trying to keep the laugher in.

Shirou, still not picking up any clues, leaned in a bit closer to inspect her face. "Are you sure? You're face is rather red. How are you feeling?"

It was at this point Chiho seemed to lose her nerve and blurted out "I'm feeling fine! I just see why Uzume was thinking about a threesome with you!"

And suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore.

Chiho, having realized what she just said, suddenly lost all of the color that had been accumulating in her face and turned white. With a loud "Eep!" she dove under the covers as if to hide from the embarrassing statement she just made. Shirou's head turned to Uzume with glacial slowness, an eyebrow twitching furiously and his mouth slightly open. Uzume herself had suddenly seemed to gain all the redness that Chiho just lost and then some.

"I-I… that, I mean… I was joking, bro!" she stammered out, her face feeling like it was about to burst into flames.

As Shirou palm meet his face, Uzume thought to herself_ Maybe he made too good of an impression…_

* * *

After everyone had calmed down from the little… incident, the three of them went outside for a walk, Uzume pushing Chiho around in a wheelchair. After most of the embarrassment had faded, Shirou and Chiho were getting along quite well, with Shirou talking about the mundane parts of his life while Chiho listened and sometimes questioned him. In particular, she seemed most interested in how her Sekirei faired in the world outside the hospital.

"I'm so happy Uzume has a friend like you, Shirou." She said, looking at the red head with a smile. "I was worried that she'd never find anyone besides me she could be happy spending time with."

"Chiho…" Uzume said with some embarrassment. "You know that I would have been fine even if I only had you."

"Perhaps, but you shouldn't have to."

Shirou gave the sick girl a kind smile. "Well, I'm glad I have Uzume as a friend too, and not just for her sewing skills either." After he said this, he returned to ideally looking around the park the three of them were in, the one which was placed right next to the hospital.

Of course, Uzume knew that Shirou wasn't just looking at the foliage. For that matter, this wasn't a simple visit either.

"Chiho," Shioru began slowly. "This is going to seem rather sudden, but I need to talk to you about something important."

"Does it have to do with how you keep looking around for the people watching us?" she replied innocently.

Both Shirou and Uzume stiffened in shock at that. Uzume knew that her Ashikabi was perceptive, but this? She felt a small twinge of dread, wondering just how much the sweet girl knew of her situation.

"Um, well, yes." Shirou managed to say. Indeed, ever since he told Uzume that he could cure Chiho two days ago, he had been spending time scoping out the hospital to see what kind of security Higa had around Chiho. All in all, it was pretty light, usually just one Sekirei or even human security guard keeping an eye on her. After all, Higa didn't really need to worry about her running off; he was the only one who could keep her alive.

Though Uzume was sure he wouldn't be doing so for much longer. She hadn't talked to Higa for the past few days, but given how sour things had become between them, he was likely using the time to think of a way to terminate their contract without putting himself at risk. In any case, Shirou was pushing things for choosing to wait as long as he did before extracting Chiho, but he insisted that he wanted to be prepared.

Shirou paused for a moment longer before simply saying. "I believe I have a way to cure your illness."

Uzume knew that this would probably be the hardest part: convincing Chiho that he really could do just that without giving away any specifics on how. During his explanation on the whole magic thing, Shirou had told her that the organization he used to belong to was really focused on keeping the fact that magic existed under wraps. So much so that they were willing to kill to keep it that way. He had been somewhat uncomfortable when he remarked that by telling her he had technically turned her into a target for them if they ever found out, but he then also pointed out that the organization would probably dissect her if they ever found her anyway. To be honest, the bigger risk he was taking was for himself, as if they ever found out he told her, they would come after him in a much bigger way.

Upon hearing this, Uzume was touched that he had decided to trust her with this, and swore that she would never tell anyone else about it. Besides, why would she tell anyone else? And for that matter, who would believe her? However, that still left the problem of Chiho. Uzume was fully willing to take on the extra risk of knowing about the secret order of wizards (negligible as it was), but she didn't want to put her Ashikabi in danger. So, it was up to Shirou to come up with some technobabble to explain away any questions about his heal3 thing.

For a moment, Chiho simply looked at the young man with large, thoughtful eyes. Finally, she said "And it would keep the people hurting Uzume from doing so, yes?"

"C-Chiho!" Uzume said in shock. "What are you talking about?"

Chiho gave her Sekirei one of her sad smiles. "There are people that constantly watch over me. Though I've never been able to hear what was said, I know you have talked to them, and your always so sad afterwards. It's not hard to figure out that someone is using me to get to you."

Uzume looked down at the ground in shame, her hands griping the hem of her dress. "Chiho…"

The wheelchair bound girl reached back, grasping one of Uzume's hands. "It's ok, Uzume-chan. I understand."

With those words, Uzume reached down and wrapped her arms around her Ashikabi, tying to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.

They stayed like that for a minute before an awkward cough drew their attention to Shirou, who was standing somewhat uncomfortably to the side while trying not to look at the intimate moment unfolding before him. Seems that they had forgotten him for a moment there.

"Ah, I'm sorry Shirou-san." Chiho apologized before looking at him resolutely. "I am ready to go with you."

Again, both Shirou and Uzume started in surprise at her sudden statement. "Really?" Shirou asked. "I thought you would be a little more skeptical then that…"

Chiho shook her head. "You truly believe that you can cure me of my sickness. I can tell." She turned to Uzume. "And I can tell that you trust him. You believe that he can do it too. That is enough for me."

Shirou blinked at this before coming to his senses. "Well, I suppose that makes thing faster. I any case, there's only one Sekirei watching us at the moment, so we shouldn't have much of a problem." He looked around for a moment before he spotted a small but dense knot of trees. "That will do." With that, the three of them moved off the path and behind the tree.

"Remember to wait till the Sekirei is distracted." Shirou said, before darting off to loop around behind their observer while line of sight was broken. Uzume herself wasted no time in getting her outfit off, which was much easier than putting it on due to a rather sensible quick release cord she had put into the dress. She had never really felt comfortable in an outfit that she couldn't fight in or remove quickly, so she tended to build such releases into her costumes as a matter of course. She quickly covered herself in her battle outfit and scooped up Chiho in a cloth hammock. Amusingly, Chiho had grabbed onto the dress when Uzume took it off, and was now holding onto it like a blanket.

Uzume wait for a few more moments, before she heard a sharp cry and the sound of metal on metal. Stealing a look back, she saw Shirou (now in his guise at the Kensei Sekirei, though she wasn't sure how he had managed to change so fast) engaging the Sekirei who was following them, a younger girl who used some kind of blade on a chain. She didn't watch for too long though, as a moment later she took off towards the safety of the Izumo House.

* * *

Shirou gave a sigh as he stood up, the glow from what he had been doing subsiding and leaving only the singular light in his workshop to illuminate the scene. "There. It's done." He said looking down at Chiho.

Uzume had to admit, the process, while simple, was fascinating to watch. After creating the most beautiful sword sheath she had even seen, he had somehow merged it with Chiho's sleeping form in a glow of blue light. The whole process was surprising quickly, and they probably cause have done it before supper if they didn't have to wait for Chiho to fall asleep. It was awkward enough trying to tell her that she needed to be asleep for this, but the fact that it had to be in the shed as well took some convincing.

In any case, Chiho looked quite peaceful, and didn't seemed to be disturbed by the process in the slightest. "So, is she going to be ok?" Uzume asked nervously from her position behind the wizard.

"Well, the version I implanted in her was just a copy. With the amount of prana I gave it, it will last about a week. Still, that should be more than enough to fight off-" he cut himself off as he turned around, noticing the blank look on Uzume's face. He gave sigh and a small smile. "Yes, she's going to be fine."

She moved forward, embracing the man who had given her world back to her in a hug. "Thank you." She whispered into the much taller man's chest. "Thank you, thank you."

He returned the embrace, giving a smile that she couldn't see. "It's fine. That's what friends are for, right?"

Uzume gave a small laugh. "Friends? Friends help you move or pay for a food bill. You? You saved the person I care about most in this world. You've always supported me when I need it the most. You told me you greatest secret because you care about me that much. Well, I think I care about you too."

"I understand."

"No," she said softly, pulling back slightly so she could look him in the eyes. One of her hands came up to touch the side of his face, his eyes widening as she did so. "I don't think you do…" Before he could react, she drew his head down into a kiss.

It was a soft, simple thing at first. Shirou stiffened a bit as their lips brushed against each other, only lightly touching. Then, after a few moments, the tension left his body and kiss became a deeper one, responding to her emotions in kind. She wasn't sure how long it went on for, but went the two finally broke contact they were both flushed and breathing somewhat heavier than they once were.

"Uzume…" he said, a number of emotions on his face, though the one that was most present was uncertainty.

Uzume smiled at him before resting her head back on his chest. "Don't worry, I understand. You still love them after all." _Rin and Saber are truly luck to have a guy like this_ she thought to herself. "Honestly, I'm not even really sure what it is I feel for you. It's… different that what I feel for Chiho, but I care about you so much. I want to help you. I want you to be happy. I… I love you, Shirou."

Shirou said nothing, continuing to hold her as if his words were simply inadequate for the situation. Uzume looked back up at his face. "You were so much like me, alone for the sake of the ones you loved. You've done so much for so little, and you deserve so much more. So, this I promise you: Whatever my feelings for you might actually be, whatever might come for you in the future, you will not be alone. I will be there for you, and I'm here for you now, whenever you need it."

Shirou's features softened, and his eyes closed. He pressed his forehead against her own and then, in a whisper that was barely audible but full of emotion, said "Thank you."

That night, they no longer felt alone.

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

"Shirou!" a pair of female voice called out.

"Rin? Saber?" the two aforementioned women crashed into the man, sending all three of them to the ground.

Uzume looked at the mess of people with a smile on her face. It had been a few weeks since Minato did… whatever the hell he did that ended the Sekirei Plan and freed all the Sekirei from the bonds of MBI. At the same time, it ended up announcing the presence of the aliens to the entire world, so things had been hectic for the past few weeks. It was so crazy that Mastu almost missed two people of Rin and Saber's description entering the city. Uzume had asked the hacker Sekirei to keep an eye out for the two. Given everything Shirou had done for her, she was more than happy to reconnect him with his lost loves.

Still, her smile had a hint of sadness in it. She still loved the man quite a bit, and was fairly certain that his two other lovers wouldn't appreciate her affection. Uzume, being a Sekirei, had no problem having love for both Chiho and Shirou, but she knew that humans weren't that simple. Despite appearance, she knew that the man's relationship with the two women was a much more complicated affair, and you can't just add on more people.

"Ah!" Chiho said from beside her. "I'm so happy for you Shirou!" she said with a beaming face. However, Chiho's smile also had the same hint of sadness to it that Uzume's had. It seemed that over the past few weeks she had become rather attached to her 'Knight in Shining Armor' as she liked to call him. She wasn't vocal about it, but Uzume suspected that she had developed some feelings for the red head too.

After the three former lovers finally calmed down enough for conversation, Shirou asked "What are you doing here?"

Rin gave him and exasperated look. "You expect there to be an announcement about a new alien species being discovered in this city and that I wouldn't come?" She shook her head. "Anyway, that doesn't matter! There are plenty from the Clock Tower that have come to the city for the same reason!"

Saber nodded in agreement. "It's not safe here. We have to leave the city as soon as possible."

Uzume felt a small pang of sadness when she heard this. She knew it was the smart thing to do, but she didn't want Shirou to leave. Shirou seemed to share this sentiment, looking back at Uzume and Chiho uncertainly.

Rin noticed his gaze and turned towards Uzume, a suspicious frown on her face as she did so. "And just who are you anyway? I'm grateful that you've brought me to Shirou, but just what is your relationship with him?"

Uzume shifted uncomfortably. "We're his friends…" she said, while trying to convince herself that this was for the best. He was finally with Rin and Saber again. She couldn't ask him to give that up. She would just thank him for everything he's done for her, wish him goodbye and…

and…

Ah, screw it.

"…and we want in!" Uzume declared.

"Huh?" Rin said in confusion.

"What?" Shirou said in shock.

"UZUME!" Chiho said in embarrassment.

Undeterred, the cloth Sekirei plowed forward. "Yeah, we ended up getting kinda attached to the guy, so it looks like we're going to have to join his harem with you."

Rin finally caught on to what she was taking about and turned red. "W-What? You can't… I… He's a part of my harem, damn it!"

"Really?" Uzume said with an arched eyebrow. She leaned closer to the shorter girl, looking her over before giving her an absolutely wicked grin. "Well, we can work with that too!"

Rin face turned an even brighter shade of red as she sputtered. "Shrou!" she yelled as she spun on the red head, who was suddenly looking very afraid. "Just what have you been doing?"

Saber on the other hand merely narrowed her eyes, her hand reaching for a sword that wasn't there. "It seems that you've had far too much free time on your hands if something like this can happen. It looks like we'll have to resume our training sessions, starting immediately."

Uzume chuckled to herself as she saw him try (and fail) to keep the much smaller women from hurting him. _I promised you, didn't I Shirou?_ She thought to herself. _Whatever comes, I'll be __there for you. I love you too much not to._ A slightly more lecherous thought entered her mind. _Plus, kinky five-ways don't hurt either._


	7. Chapter 7

*Begin Meta*

Sitting around a semi-circular table with only a single lamp overhead for illumination (because that's how all clandestine meetings between high ranking officials take place), a trio of admirals grimaced at each other. They all knew why they were here.

"Honestly, I still don't see the point." The First Admiral finally said. "It was finished almost a year ago, and since then Satire Swift hasn't bothered adding to the fleet. What's the point of doing this now?"

"Because _In Flight_ is ending." The Second Admiral replied. "What is likely to be the last forum for omakes has been created. It would be remiss if Satire Swift did not contribute to this one. Besides, the Shipping Admiral himself as taken to the Sea again."

"That still doesn't answer my question." The First said. "He hasn't done this sort of thing in a long time. Hell, considering the fact that he's working on several of his own fics at the moment, now is a terrible time to go back to this. Besides, it's not like the Sea itself is being closed to him when _In Flight_ ends."

"Perhaps, but now is still the best time." The Third Admiral said. "Not many will come to the forums after the fic ends, and he feels that this one of his in particular has the strong ties with the original work. It's the same reason he worked to finish the Tropes Project."

The First sighed while rubbing his eyes. "Fine, but who are we going to get to captain the thing?"

"What about the First Mate?" The Third suggested. "He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Maybe we could promote him?"

The second however, merely shook his head. "No luck. He can't grow a decent beard."

All three sighed and nodded in agreement. You couldn't be captain if you didn't pass the grizzled threshold. That was just the way things were.

"You do of course realize that this means we need… him." The First said with a grimace. "How is it we only have one Captain anyway?"

"Tragic bar fight down by the marina." The Second explained. "He's the only one left alive."

The Third nodded. "I'll make the calls."

* * *

The phone ringed only once before a calloused hand reached out to grip it. The Captain brought the phone to his ear and said. "I knew this day would come."

There was a moment's pause before the person on the other end said something, to which the Captain replied. "Well, actually I've just been responding to all my phone calls like that."

Another pause followed by chatter. "Well, that seems like a stupid question now, don't it?"

* * *

The First Mate craned his neck from side to side, looking at his face in the mirror. He could see a bit of stubble finally growing on his jawline. If you used the right lighting. And squinted a bit.

The phone then rang, so he turned from his daily beard inspection to answer it. "Hello?" he asked, and listened to the man on the other end. "R-Really?! Does that mean I'll finally get my own command?!" Some more words followed, and the First Mate's shoulders slumped. "Oh. No, no, I understand. You know, I'm actually seeing some real progress on that front… Well, I'm almost have a 5'oclock shadow, so… Oh. Alright. Well, who is going to command?"

A few words later the phone dropped out of his hands. "NOOOOOO!"

* * *

The Third hung up the phone. "It is done."

The First gave another sigh. "Well, if Satire Swift must, then we will oblige." He reached down below the table to grab a folder. "I just hope he knows what he's doing." He plopped the folder down on the table, and any who were close enough could see that it had a diagram of a ship on the front, and the title at the top read _S.S. Uzume_. The Admiral then grabbed a stamp, gave it some ink, and slammed it on the folder with a loud thud.

RECOMISSIONED

*End Meta*

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Shirou asked the woman next to him.

"For the last time, yes." Uzume said as she rolled her eyes. "Come on, I would have thought that you'd be more eager."

He frowned at her and said "It's not like I don't want to, I just… if you're not comfortable with this…"

She gave a small snort and cocked her hips. "Please, I'm a big girl, and I know what I'm getting into. Besides I have some debts I need to pay back and you know it."

He gave a sigh and shifted his body. "Alright, but you know that I won't be holding back. With you, I'm going full tilt."

A small grin formed on Uzume's lips as she mirrored him. "I wouldn't have it any other way, bro. Now, show me your good stuff."

There was a tense moment between the two of them before they threw themselves at each other. The two moved with grace and precision beyond that of normal humans. Any who might have been watching would have been transfixed by the sight, not that such a thing would be seen in polite company. Mostly due to all the swords.

The pair danced across the clearing in Osaka Park, cloth and blade flying as the two battled. Shirou got in close and took a swipe with one of those large Chinese sabers of his, but Uzume was able to spring back with a backflip before it could connect. Landing deftly, she swept her arm out low and a large swath of cloth came with it, sweeping along the ground in an attempt to trip up his legs. Shirou jumped up to avoid, but realized too late that it was a feint as the cloth sudden changed direction and launched upwards, catching the man in the air. She moved in to take advantage of this, but even as he tumbled through the air the man managed to tossed one of the blades at her, forcing Uzume to dodge as he landed.

It had been about a week since Shirou had managed to fix Chiho of her condition, and things had never been better. Chiho was healthy at last, and Uzume could spend as much time as she wanted with the girl in the safety of the inn. However, her feeling of guilt had not left her entirely. While she was no longer under Higa's control, that did not change the things she had done at his command. She couldn't take those things back, but she did feel that she could at least prevent that sort of thing from happening again. She decided that the Veiled Sekirei would join the Kensei Sekirei to protect the other wings.

Which was why she was currently honing her skills with Shirou. While he had admitted that she was one of the more competent Sekirei he had faced thus far, it was still clear that there was much she could improve. It wasn't really fair to compare herself to Shirou in this respect; the man had a great deal more combat experience under his belt, which was to say nothing of that whole magic thing. So, she was going to learn everything she could from him. To be honest though, it wasn't just because of the Sekirei Plan that she was pushing herself so hard. Uzume had not forgotten what Shirou had told her of the other magic users in the world. How they could be even more dangerous than her own kind, and how they would take her apart to see how she worked. Worse, they would do the same thing to Chiho.

She would never let that happen. She would do whatever it took to be strong enough to keep her Chiho safe.

Unfortunately, she still had a ways to go, as 2 hours and several fights later she once again found herself pined to the ground by a number of swords through her cloth. The final blade had been driven home by his own hands, and as such Shirou was almost on top of her. The two still save for their heavy breathes, their eyes locked as a familiar tension filled the air between them. Still, Uzume couldn't help but raise an eyebrow suggestively and say "Really bro, you do seem fond of getting me in this position. Think you might have something pent up?"

Shirou blinked as if realizing the position they were in and sat up quickly. She could only see his eyes as he was wearing the mask of his usual battle outfit, but she could tell that a blush had formed on his face. "I, uh, that's enough for today." He said and in an instant the blades disappeared, allowing the woman to get to her feet.

Uzume gave a small sigh of guilt as she pulled herself up. She would have hoped that after all they had been through their relationship would have been more clear. Make no mistake, the two had certainly become closer since her declaration of love to Shriou, but it was clear that he didn't know how to respond. It was frustrating as she wanted to help the man, but she had no idea how to go about it.

The cloth around Uzume's body shifted and moments later she was in her street cloths again. When she caught Shirou starting at her, she asked "What is it?"

He titled his head slightly. "It's just… where does all that cloth come from? And where does it go?"

Uzume blinked at the question. "I… have got no idea. I've never really thought about it before."

Shirou grunted. "It's just something I've been thinking about. I have a few ideas about that cloth of yours… but that can wait for another time. Come on, let's head back."

"Yeah, and let's get you back where you belong, in the kitchen!" Uzume said with a grin. "Seriously bro, I may have to chain you to an oven one of these days and make you me and Chiho's maid."

Shirou rolled his eyes, but gave her a good natured smile as they headed back to the inn.

* * *

Uzume lay back on the futon, a small smile on her face as Chiho excitedly danced around the room as he talked about her day. "And after we finished shopping, we went to Koyto Park and played Frisbee! And then we all got ice cream! And then Musubi fell into the fountain! And I got to play with a bunch of adorable puppies!"

Uzume couldn't help but feel happiness at how her Ashikabi was able to do all the things that had been denied to her in the past due to her illness. Chiho had spent the day with Minato's gaggle of girls, and it seemed that she got a lot out of it. Uzume had wanted to come along, but in addition to needing to train with Shirou, she had been spending basically every moment possible with the her Ashikabi during the last week. She didn't want to smother her, so when she heard that the other Sekirei of the inn where having a day out, she encouraged Chiho to go out with them, as she needed some friends outside of herself and Shirou.

Eventually, Chiho's energy wound down and all the events of the day caught up with her. Her shoulders sagged a little while a weary smile crossed her face. "Fuu… I think I'm ready for bed now." She then walked to the futon and unceremoniously flopped down on top of Uzume, much to the other woman's surprise. Chiho nestled her head against Uzume's chest and muttered "Can I do this again someday?"

Words could not describe the joy in Uzume's heart at how she was about to hold her love close and say "Of course. You can do it as often as you want."

Chiho gave a small hum and was silent for a few moments before she said softly "How was your day with Shirou?"

The other woman blinked in surprise at the question. "It was… good. We got some stuff done." Uzume had yet to tell Chiho that she was planning on joining Shriou in his self-appointed task of protecting the Sekirei. She knew she shouldn't, but she just didn't want her to worry. "He's been actin' a little weird lately, but it's probably nothing."

There was another moment of silence before Chiho said in a whisper. "He's afraid."

"Huh?" Uzume asked in confusion, looking down at the woman laying on her.

Chiho appeared to be drifting off, but even so she still spoke in a quiet voice. "He's afraid of getting close to you. He wants to love you, but he fears that he'll betray the other two he loves. The knight doesn't know how to fight the battle in his heart…"

Uzume stared at Chiho in surprise, but it seemed that was all she had to say, as moments later she was sleeping peacefully. Uzume knew that Chiho was absurdly perceptive, but she had never seen her read anyone other than herself like that.

The Sekirei was not given long to mull over Chiho's comment though, as soon there was a soft knock at the door. It slid open to reveal none other than the man in question. He paused when he noticed the position the two women were in. "Is this a bad time?" He asked in a low tone.

"Just speak softly." Uzume replied. "What'ca need?"

"I've been keeping an eye on things. It looks like Higa put a bounty on our heads."

A scowl crossed Uzume's face at the name. She had been going out of her way to avoid anything to do with that man, but she was reasonably sure that he had not been made happy by how she slipped away from him. "Does he know where we are?"

"No. As far as I can tell, he has no idea that we're staying in the north." Shiruo said. "Still, he's willing to pay a few million yen to anyone who can take us down for him. I can't tell if he's being prudent and assuming we'll attack him later or just wants some petty revenge."

"Knowing him, probably both."

Shirou gave her a concerned look. "Uzume, if you-"

She cut him off. "I know what you're gonna say, but I'm still doing it. It doesn't matter who's coming after us. I need to do this. I gotta do something to make up for what I did." Her expression softened. "Besides, I'm not letting you go it alone anymore. Someone has to take care of you, even if you won't, you noble idiot."

Shirou was taken off guard by this, but in the end he just gave a sigh. "Alright, I just want to be sure." He's gaze drifted down look at bot her and Chiho, and a number of emotions crossed his face in that moment, resulting in something bittersweet. It passed quickly though, and soon he said "Well, good night."

Uzume got an impulse right then which she decided to follow. With her right arm still wrapped around Chiho, her left shot out and a bolt of cloth extended from it, reaching across to room to wrap around the man's waist. "And where do ya think you're going?" She said coyly.

"Uh, to bed?" He said in confusion looking back at her.

She shook her head. "Nuh uh. My two favorite people aren't going anywhere tonight." With a pull of her arm and a small yelp from him, the man tumbled into the room and ended up partway on top her as well. It was fortunate that the woman had a lot of chest to spare. Uzume couldn't help but grin as Shirou's face went red.

Although, it was worth noting that he didn't leave the room that night.


End file.
